


misgiving

by wintersea (Afueras)



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:47:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22900462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Afueras/pseuds/wintersea
Summary: Tomorrow Riju will take him to Vah Naboris. And as long as he tells himself he can't fail, then he won't.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	misgiving

Gerudo Town, while pleasant compared to the surrounding desert, bears a chill at night. The water-ducts circling the city have a wonderful cooling effect during the day and a mild warming one in the evening after long hours of being heated by the sun. It's worn off by the early morning hours, though, and Link feels as though his joints have frozen stiff in the revealing _ vai _ clothes. 

The inn would've been the best bet, of course, but he's always reluctant to sleep there. With the way he tosses and turns, it would be too easy for his identity to be revealed. Not to mention it would be suspicious - or just silly looking - to sleep in this full getup, no matter how often he's slept in full armor before. 

Tomorrow Riju will take him to Vah Naboris. She knows he isn't a  _ vai,  _ so hopefully he will have a chance to change into those strange shock-resistant garments that feel so odd to touch. He's tested them, though, against the shock arrows of the Lynel above Zora's Domain, and they did have the promised effect. When a stray arrow glanced his side, the familiar terrible jolt never came, just the sting of a flesh wound. Yellow light still flashed and Link's skin prickled, but that was it. He'd never been so thankful for any armor besides Mipha's. Even if this armor didn't hold up against the Thunderblight, if it spares him any mild shocks it will still be in his good graces. 

Link  _ hates _ electricity. 

Sitting in the back alley near the goddess statue, the anxiety is growing worse than the chill. It's not just fear of being shocked - though that's definitely present - but rather some horrible manifestation of the usual guilt coupled with a fear of Urbosa. 

He barely has memories of her and her face won't exactly stick in his head, but all of the Gerudo are already intimidating. He likes their vibrant city. He gets along well with travelling Gerudo he meets, as well as the vendors here. Riju is nice, even if Buliaria makes him shudder to think about. 

But Urbosa? She didn't seem terrible in memories, but he can't be sure. Revali had been bearable, so that gives him hope, but Revali hadn't seemed close with the Princess. The Princess whom Link had failed, and then failed again by sleeping for so long. 

He won't fail her now. Impa told him that he can't this time. He chooses to take that as prophecy. As long as he tells himself he can't fail, then he won't. It's worked against golden lynels, guardian stalkers, and the specters of Ganon's evil that imprisoned the other three Divine Beasts. It will work against even the Calamity, because it has to. Maybe Urbosa will understand that; he feels like she would. She may be mad at him and she may hate him, and that's okay because he feels the same way and he won't hate her for it. He won't be hurt. It won't change anything. Link has to defeat the Calamity and first he must free Urbosa, and she will help him because she has to, in order to help the Princess. 

His head falls against the wall with a dull thud. The older lady who is usually back here is gone, in her place an empty mat by the goddess statue. He doesn't think she would mind if he sat on it, but he doesn't want to be that close to Hylia right now. He needs to focus. 

That focus breaks before he even achieves it with a jingle of metal, a jeweled arm waving in front of his face. He tenses, hand tightening on the grip of his sword, but it's just the old lady. Part of him is surprised he didn't reflexively run her through when she scared him. He sends a fervent thanks over to the goddess statue, much as he resents it. If he killed an old lady in her own alley, well, that isn't something he could come back from. 

"Eat, little  _ voe, _ " she says with a smirk, unbothered by the near-death experience. "Far too skinny, little Hylians. Naboris could kill you by passing wind." 

So she knows, then, what he's here to do. And she's able to joke about it. Before he knows what's happening an uneven smile has made its way to his lips and his hands have accepted the parcel she's delivered into them. It's some kind of spiced meat wrapped in leaves. He recognizes the smell of warm safflina, which cuts in a way he didn't see coming, nearly taking his breath. 

She sits next to him and digs into her own share, despite the hour. He wishes very badly that he knew her name. If she's said it, he's forgotten, which makes him feel bad and freezes his hands when he wants to ask. 

Most of the Gerudo understand his signs. Of course they do; they all seem to have had basic military training, and his signs are just elaborated copies of the signage used by soldiers, after all. That's probably how he learned it. It's almost uncomfortable, being understood after so many blank stares elsewhere. It's unpleasant in a way, because it forces him to say things and respond to things when he would rather just nod along as he usually does. 

But the old lady doesn't want to talk, it seems. She says nothing else. She just leans back against the wall like he originally was, and falls asleep. Her open-mouthed snore is both amusing and relaxing, taking Link's mind off what the day ahead will bring. 

And at least for a little, he can pretend he's forgotten everything again, blank as the day he was born or reborn, and so he sleeps. 

**Author's Note:**

> One of the endless short-bits I might spin into a longer thing but probably not so I might as well start posting them


End file.
